


Cherry Ice Cream

by NadiasGhost



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: Everybody Swears A Lot, FUCK, Galra Keith, Getting Together, Hunk is an amazing friend, Keith's Galra ears, Lance has a chill for once in his life I guess that's ooc, M/M, actual dad shiro, allura is working through stuff, broganes, confessions..??, idek when this is set, im not a furry I swear, keith's gay internal monologue swears a lot, neither is lance, shiro is a dad not a daddy rn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 19:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11951037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NadiasGhost/pseuds/NadiasGhost
Summary: Keith was terrified. Keith was on the verge of tears and Shiro was just standing there, presumably looking at him with that little sideways smile he usually reserved for unexpected humour, like... Like..."Kitty!" Lance burst out, his voice all high-pitched and syrupy-sweet. Like he was talking to a baby or... A baby animal.**Keith (idk sneezes??) and gets some Galra ears and senses. Which is confusing to say the least. But Lance is really here for it.





	Cherry Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> I literally wrote this in the middle of the night but it didn't post then lord save me this is a ramble it's all over the goddamn place hoo boi

Keith was terrified. Keith was on the verge of tears and Shiro was just standing there, presumably looking at him with that little sideways smile he usually reserved for unexpected humour, like... Like... 

"Kitty!" Lance burst out, his voice all high-pitched and syrupy-sweet. Like he was talking to a baby or... A baby animal. 

Keith growled. At least his growl was still intimidating. 

Here Keith was, so ready to deal with the purple ears triggering Allura or Coran, he hadn't even thought to worry about Lance making fun of him. Which was odd, because he was nearly always worried about Lance making fun of him, the boy did it an awful lot. 

Keith spat a couple curses at him, sinking back into the pillows and glaring at where he thought Lance was. Because yeah, he couldn't fucking see. 

"Lance," Shiro cut in, "Keith is having a difficult time adjusting to this sudden change, it's important we don't startle him." Keith coughed, hopefully in a sarcastic, spiteful way, and not just in a "I have something in my throat" way. "Could you ask the rest of the team to come in here please?" Shiro requested, so painfully politely and patiently. 

Keith growled again. No. That was the LAST thing he wanted. He wouldn't be able to see their expressions, see how disgusted they were with him. He opened his eyes briefly and the light was so blinding he actually hissed in pain before snapping them shut again. Oh hell no. 

Keith heard footsteps. "Okay, team," said Shiro, in that 'okay, team'-voice that meant shit had, or was about to, go down, "Keith, for reasons we're not quite sure about, is.... Different right now." Keith scowled, and apparently Shiro saw, because he fixed his wording. "Only in appearance. His senses are apparently going haywire, because Galra see, feel, and taste slightly differently than we do. What we need to do is help him however we can until he can adjust to this change, or changes back. Me and Allura are working on what caused it. Because of light sensitivity, Keith is effectively blind for right now. Which means somebody will have to help him around at all times." 

"Hunk, can you help Keith today, then tomorrow Lance, then the next day Pidge." 

There was suddenly a hand on Keith's shoulder, and he flinched. "Sorry, buddy," Hunk mumbled, somewhere close and to his right, "just letting you know where I am." 

** 

Having bright purple Galra ears was stressful. Being blind was boring. 

Keith and Hunk had successfully made it out of the main room, with Lance whispering things about "fluffy purple kitty" after them. Now Keith was sitting on the hangar floor, thinking too much about what people's faces looked like, while Hunk worked noisily with Pidge on the yellow lion's right foot. 

"What do they look like?" Keith asked aloud, "I mean, I can feel them with my hands, but I can't see them, you know. And how bad was Allura's reaction?" 

"Allura's fine," hunk said immediately, in such a finite way that Keith knew he was lying. "They're dark purple?" Pidge offered, "hey Keith, can I touch them?"

Of course, Pidge and their curious little grabby hands. 

"Yeah, sure." Pidge placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, and then another on his ear. "Woah! If we could study how Galra are different from us, the advantages would be huge--!"

"Pidge!" Hunk warned. "It's fine," Keith said quietly, smiling at where he hoped Pidge was, "study away, I don't have anything better to do this afternoon." 

** 

By dinner Keith was antsy from a day without any training. ".... And I scanned that part, turns out that their actual eardrums are more concave than ours, which means they might hear frequencies that are farther and lower pitched than us humans can." 

Shiro cut Pidge off, sensing the dangerous "us" and "them". "Pidge, come help me carry this food out to the table!" "Okay, dad...." 

Hunk led Keith to a seat, and paused as the shorter boy sat down. "Keith.. Can I touch them? The curiosity is KILLING me. If you're tired of people poking you, that's okay too." 

Keith nodded at his friend and sighed, "yeah, 's fine." Hunk's hands were much gentler and much less pokey in comparison to Pidge's, and after a few seconds of essentially petting Keith like a cat, the yellow paladin announced that they were "so cool and soft", and sat down. 

Coran's laughter startled Keith and he scowled ahead, unable to tell were it was coming from. "So we're petting the red paladin now?" He inquired. "Galra are not cats," Allura snapped from somewhere nearby. "Nonesense, Allura. Keith, can I pat your ears?" Keith continued to glare, feeling like Coran was making a joke of a serious situation, but nodded curtly. 

"They're not so foreign when you feel them, flesh and blood, Princess," Coran said quietly, smoothing a hand down one of Keith's ears. Keith relaxed, Coran's plan was to ease the weirdness about the ears. That was good. 

Keith noted that Allura didn't step forward to pat his ears, and he could see her shaking her head, just how her eyes would look-- wide with fear and anger and sadness. His stomach hurt with it. 

.... Lance was being uncharacteristically quiet. Dammit, even when Keith was seriously worrying, he was still thinking about Lance. 

"Lance, pass the water, please. Lance. Laance." Hunk's voice was ever patient. "Huh? What? Yeah, buddy, you got it." If Keith could've narrowed his eyes he would've. 

Hunk muttered something to Lance, too quiet for Keith to pickup, which was more than infuriating given the fact that he couldn't even look at their faces and see if they were talking about him. 

"Lance, Hunk, stop talking about Keith, he still has his hearing," Shiro gently scolded, his mouth half-full. Keith sighed. 

** 

"How the fuck do you expect me to do dishes? I'm blind right now, shiro," Keith grumbled, allowing Hunk to lead him from the dining room to the kitchen. "Language!" Shiro yelping in response, forgetting for a second his argument. Then, "Keith you can dry and Lance can put away." 

"Awwwww man! C'mon dad! Why me? It's my night off!" Lance whined, presumably slouching out of his chair and onto the floor dramatically, based on the dying whale noises he was making. "I am not you father and you will help Keith put away the dishes because of that remark you made about him to Hunk." 

Keith started to say, "what remark?!" Indignantly but was cut off by Lance shouting. "I wasn't making fun of him! I meant it!" 

"Uh hun, sure, sharpshooter. Get your butt over here in the kitchen." 

Keith set down his plate on the metal counter for Shiro to wash and felt around for a drying cloth. It was no wonder everybody had started calling Shiro dad, the man had made a chore wheel for the universe's legendary defenders. Hunk pushed the cloth to where Keith could grab it, and stood off to the side. Keith smiled a little despite himself, at least Hunk was a reliable friend, and that was a good feeling. 

Keith coughed to hide any feelings, good or otherwise, and accepted a plate from Shiro. 

"So what does it feel like," Shiro inquire curiously, "the different senses?" Keith dried the plate methodically. If it was anyone else who'd asked, Keith would've assumed they were asking for an important, scientific, research-y reason. But that was Shiro's small talk voice. 

"Ummm weird? The ears just feel like ears. When I open my eyes everything is really, really bright, like I'm staring at the sun and it hurts. Solid objects don't really feel different but I can feel like, textures better I guess? I've been aware of the fact that I'm wearing clothing like all day which is weird. I can like, feel the air pressure in the castle? Like every time the air circulator kicks on I can feel the shift in the air flow and I can feel the wind so acutely like its raising the baby hairs on my neck.... Taste, um, I don't know. What did we have for dinner?" 

"Green goop, and the white shell things," Shiro responded quietly, sloshing in the sink. "Oh," Keith whispered, equally quiet, "it tasted sweet to me, I thought maybe you and Coran had made something new." 

He waited for somebody to point out just HOW different his interpretation of the world was at this point, to call him a freak. But it was Lance that broke the silence, "dude, that's so cool! I would kill for something sweet up here, all we ever get is stupid goop and shells." 

Keith laughed and held out another plate for him, completely picking the wrong direction. Lance moved and gently took it from his hands, his fingers sliding over Keith's. 

Shiro patted his back pockets in a familiar and undeniably dad-like action that Keith knew all too well, he was drying his hands and about to put them on his hips. "Good work team!" Oh yeah, Keith would bet money his hands were on his hips. 

"I'm going to help Coran with a really quick goo machine fix, I'll be right back, you okay to chill for five minutes?" Hunk asked at a good volume. Not too quiet, not too ridiculously loud. God bless Hunk. 

"No problem," Keith replied, not bothering to wave at him. He couldn't fucking tell where to wave and it was really hard to gauge where people were. 

Except Lance. At Lance's current volume there was no place he could be except right fucking beside Keith. 

"So you know those cat videos--" Lance started. "Lance," Shiro said sternly from Keith's other side. "Can you guys be a little quieter, please? These things are like, amplifiers. And you both have the loudest fucking voices." 

Not that he didn't love both their voices. Shiro in a safe kinda older brother way, Lance in a -- wait. Lance's voice was annoying, just like Lance. 

"Sorry, Keith," Shiro whispered, not bothering to call him on his language. Keith shrugged, leaning successfully back against the counter. "Can, um, can I touch them?" Shiro asked. 

Keith wished he could roll his eyes. "Yeah, you can. But are they really that interesting?" He snarked without any real bite. "....yeah." That was definitely Lance's voice. 

Before Keith could respond to THAT, Shiro ran a hand down Keith's left ear. Keith's chest rumbled and he let out a.... Purr? Holy fuck did Galra purr? Did he just purr? 

Shiro burst out laughing but continued to gently run fingers over the arch of his ear while Lance doubled over with a fit of giggles. "It's not-" purr "-fucking-" purr "-funny-" purr "Lance!" Keith shouted. 

Shiro stopped petting him to laugh, and finally asked, "what does it feel like?" 

"I dunno? Nice? Like getting a braid put in your hair?" Keith realized what he'd just let slip and groaned more. "You used to braid your hair?!" Lance sounded rattled to his very core. "Yes, no-- Shiro used to put them in for me! For the garrison! For training! I can't do them myself!" 

"It's true," Shiro confirmed, with perhaps a hint of pride. "Oh my god!" Lance continued. "SHUT UP!" Keith shouted back, gripping the counter. God Lance had to pick fun at every little thing.... "That's adorable!" Lance cooed, bouncing up and down enough that Keith could hear it. 

Keith blushed and scowled at the same time, confused. Shiro resumed petting his left ear, with long gentle strokes that pressed the soft hairs down. "It's therapeutic," Shiro muttered in his own defence. "So do I get to pet your pretty kitty ears," Lance asked, and Keith stiffened. 

Lance was making fun of him, right? 

"You can have them both, I need to check on Coran and that gosh darn goo machine," Shiro said across Keith, extracting his hand. "Yes, I am your captain and you will take me seriously, even when I say gosh darn." His footstep pattered out of the kitchen. 

Lance slowly ran a finger down his right ear, and Keith stiffened, then shivered. "Y'know I can braid," said Lance in a voice straining to be casual, "and Shiro's back so if you ever want help...." 

Lance dug his fingernails into the soft fluff near the base of his ear and Keith gasped, falling into the counter. Fuck. Shiro's hands had felt better than anybody else's, comforting and familiar but Lance.... Fuck.

Why did that feel so good? He gripped the counter, eyes squeezing shut even tighter. "I guess you've got the whole mullet thing going on now, hun?" Lance continued. Lance raked his fingernails up the ear, pushing the hair the wrong way, and Keith ground his teeth together, holding in a groan. 

"It's a nice mullet," Lance continued, "and these are nice ears. I get that they're Galra and all but when I said to Hunk that I thought they were fuzzy and purple and cute, I wasn't trying to make fun of you or incite that you aren't a badass or anything, I just, you know, meant they were cute." Lance's other hand had drifted up to the same ear, his thumb rubbing circles in it while the first hand continued to run up and down the line between Galra hair and Keith mullet hair. 

Keith managed to mumble back something incomprehensible, and sunk farther into the counter, groaning. Oh god, Lance had to know what he was doing to him right now, didn't he? 

.... Wait. Hold on. Cute? 

"L-lance..."

Lance pulled his hands away and Keith practically whimpered, chasing the touch by turning his head. "Lance." He said again, but demanding this time. "Good, or not good?" Lance asked, a steadying hand on his shoulder, catching onto the simplified drift. "Good, very good," Keith replied, turning into where he thought Lance must be, extremely confused but also extremely okay with the way this conversation was going. 

Of course Lance's hands felt good. Lance's hands were these long, beautiful, oh so careful, gentle things. They were artistic in the way that they wrapped around mug handles and grasped at fabric, ran through his hair, held the control to the simulator or his lion. 

Fuck. Lance was touching him again. Running fingers over his ears and in the tiny fluff at their bases and through his hair, tugging at it. Keith's eyes fluttered around under his eyelids. 

Keith leaned into him, into his space. He couldn't see where he was going, but he was giving himself to Lance to direct. He could feel Lance's breath like the shifting air in the castle, he could feel in on each and every skin cell. 

"Hey Keith I'm back I can take you to your ro-- SHIT! SORRY!" There was the sound of clanking as Hunk knocked over possibly every single dish and appliance in the entire kitchen, and stumbled out. Lance seemed to be halfway between laughing and imploding, and the confusion of it all froze him. 

"I'll.... I'll see you later I guess," Lance stuttered, untangling himself, "see you later Keith!" 

Keith let out a small, dissatisfied puff of air as Lance's warmth scuttled from the kitchen. There was silence. "Hey.. Um.. Hunk? Can you help me outta here?" Keith asked timidly. 

"Oh shit yeah," Hunk took his arm rather unexpectedly, and pulled him out of the kitchen and into the hall. "So, um, Lance and, you and--" Keith cut him off, "I don't wanna talk about it." 

Hunk only lead him into one doorframe in his shellshock on the journey to Keith's room. Hunk pressed Keith's hand to the doorknob, and paused. "Thank you, Hunk. I'll be fine from here. Goodnight." 

"Night, buddy." Hunk gave his side a squeeze. "And don't overthink things, okay? Get some sleep." Keith smiled and shook his head, opened his door and walked straight to to his bunk and threw himself facedown into the mattress. 

He could feel each thread of the pillowcase and sheets. The air circulator clicked, whirred and re-geared itself far away, air gusting impossibly intensely over Keith's skin. The ghost of Lance's hands were printed all over his ears and his face and his mind. 

** 

Keith woke, opened his eyes, and snapped them shut again. Right. Not any better. Light still burning like the sun. He groaned and rolled onto his back. 

Now what? 

He couldn't open his eyes, he couldn't go anywhere. What if nobody ever came and got him? What if they'd forgotten about him? What if Galra had attacked during the night and everyone was gone so there would never be anyone to come find him and-- 

He squeaked when there was a knock on the door, and fell half out of the bed. "Come in!" He shouted, righting himself. The door opened and closed gently. 

"W-who is it?" Keith asked, feeling stupid. "Oh. Oh, yeah, it's me. Lance. Remember, Shiro assigned me today. I, uh, set an alarm because I didn't want you lying awake alone. It's quite early." 

"Oh, Lance," Keith breathed.

"Hey, sorry I came on a bit strong on the ears last night," Lance said in the way that indicated he was about to start rambling. Keith held out a hand for him, and he took it, hauling Keith to his feet. 

Fuck. Now it wasn't just Keith's ears that were sensitive like crazy, it everywhere else apparently. "Let's get breakfast," he managed, cutting Lance off before he could continue with the ramble.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Lance said, hand moving from Keith's hand to his elbow, directing him. Lance's hands were still long, beautiful, oh so careful, gentle things. 

Lance, of course, led Keith right into the doorframe. "Ow, fuck," Keith let out a slew of curses and stumbled backwards. "Oh! Oh god! I'm so sorry!" Lance's hands fluttered confusingly around Keith's face and Keith pressed past them to squish his face into Lance's collarbone, applying somehow helpful pressure to what was a quickly growing bruise. 

Lance's arms wrapped around him without pause, the smell of Lance invading Keith's space. They used the castle laundry soap, shampoo, conditioner, hell even the same castle toothpaste and Lance still smelled distinctly Lance. 

"Keith! Keith! Are you okay? Oh my god!" Keith winced, and whispered, "a little quieter please?" 

"I'm sorry. What hurts? Look at me." Lance whispered. Keith groaned and buried his head further into Lance's shirtfront. Lance's voice at full volume had somehow gone from annoying to pleasant, but his whisper, so rarely ever heard, was deep and breathy and.... 

Fuck.

Lance eventually forced his face up, which meant nothing to Keith except the loss of his soft t-shirt. But Lance sucked in a breath and pressed a tentative finger to the lump on Keith's forehead. "Ow," Keith said indignantly. He could feel Lance's breath again, this time under his skin. 

Lance leaned forward slowly, and pressed a kiss to the bruise. Keith's eyes squeezed shut tighter again. Lance's hands found the sides of his face, tangling in his hair, and eventually finding his ears. 

At first Keith giggled at a slight tickle and then moaned, falling into Keith's collar again. "Okay?" Lance asked. "Good, very good," Keith responded, voice muffled. 

Keith had to try several times, but finally he managed a coherent sentence. "What's your obsession with the ears?" 

"Would you prefer I touch something else?" Lance said, aiming for suave, landing just south of breathless and into nervous. Keith faced where he knew Lance was, they were so close he could feel the outline of Lance in his mind's eye. He lifted a hand and touched his own bruise. 

Lance pressed a ginger finger to it, then pressed his soft lips against it. Tentatively, Keith touched the tip of his nose. God he wished he could SEE Lance. 

Lance pressed a finger there too then a feather light kiss. Keith blushed. 

Keith touched his cheek with more courage, and Lance traced his cheekbone down to his jawline, and placed a hot kiss on the square of his jaw. 

Keith remembered to breath. He put a finger to his lips. 

Lance pulled on his bottom lip with his thumb. 

He brought their lips together, sweet and chaste and the Galra senses sweetened it until it was like cherry ice-cream. Keith reached out and found his t-shirt, clutching it tightly as Lance ran fingers through his hair. 

The kiss broke and Lance laughed. "You know why the ears are adorable?" Lance whispered, "Because there's nothing different about you. Same Keith smell, same Keith adorable scowl, same Keith hands and face and speech and giggle. Same cute little Keith button nose. Same-- well, exactly how I imagined a Keith pretty mouth to taste.... The ears are adorable because they're attached to you." 

Keith could feel his face heat even more and he buried it into Lance's collar. "I hope the ears go away so you can see again," Lance continued, "but I have to say-" he rubbed at the base of one, earning an instant moan and purr from Keith, "- I will certainly miss them." 

Keith nuzzled into him, then suddenly perked up with an idea. "Lance, turn the lights off." 

"We're in space, there's no light anywhere. If I do that I won't be able to see. I get that you're already blind, mullet, but one of us has to be able to--" 

"Trust me." 

Keith could hear the lights switch off and Lance awkwardly grope his way back across the room. Keith opened his eyes. 

The light was odd, but no longer blinding. It wasn't night vision in the green and black sort of way from the movies, he had a full range of colours. The blacks and greys were just muted and paled, so they weren't so encompassing, and the lighter colours stark, vibrant and magnetic. 

Like Lance's eyes. 

Lance was two feet from him, and God he was beautiful. His face shone out of the darkness, eyes squinting and unsure. 

Keith stepped forward and scooped him up, leaning in to kiss the tip of his nose. Lance went to presumably say something along the lines of "how the tables have turned", but only managed "....tables...." Before his voice cracked and he buried his face in his hands laughing and blushing. 

Had Lance been blushing like that this whole time? 

Keith dropped kisses all over his face and the laughed. "Give me a moment before you turn them back on, and I'm back to relying solely on you for sight." 

"And still so little trust!" Lance gasped, mock hurt. Keith poked at his cheek, "you walked me into a door! Plus," he added, "I'm enjoying your face right now." 

Lance blushed darker, the pink radiant through Keith's new eyes. 

** 

"Which one of them are you going to have to give the dad speech to, Shiro? Lance or Keith?" Pidge quipped, presumably sat atop of the kitchen counter, per usual in the mornings. "What?" Shiro asked, at the same time Lance practically broke his voice squeaking "wHat dO yOu meAn bY THAT, pidDe?!" 

Keith blushed and looked down, hoping his hair was hiding his face. "....Sure we're holding hands but that's cuz he's BLIND," Lance continued to ramble, "I have to show him around, Shiro knows, it's my day! And--" 

"You're sitting down! You're not leading Keith anywhere," Pidge interrupted, and Lance made a sound like a strangled goose. 

"I don't understand, what dad speech?" Shiro asked from somewhere nearby. The castle equivalent of a toaster dinged, and Shiro made over-dramatic breathing sounds as he pulled out the hot toast. 

"You know like," Pidge began, their voice suddenly changing into a bad impersonation of a middle aged man, "now you be good to my son, because if you break his heart I'll break your face." 

"Pidge!" Shiro scolded, and soon there was the sound of munching, presumably as they ate the toast Shiro had toasted for them. 

"Um, goodmorning." 

Allura. 

Keith stiffened, and Lance's hand tightened in his own, Lance's thumb moving to rub reassuring circles. "Hey Keith, I.... Um, I haven't gotten a chance to check out your cool new ears yet. Do you mind?" 

Lance started to growl, and Keith cut him off with a squeeze. "Sure." Allura approached slowly, and ran a hand down one ear. It wasn't like any of the others before it, but it was gentle, and friendly. 

She leaned down and hugged him, abrupt only to him because he couldn't see it coming. Allura's cheek brushed against his ear as she whispered, "I'm so sorry if I acted curt yesterday. They're just ears, they don't change you or the fact that you are my teammate and friend." 

Keith opened his mouth, then closed it, then whispered back, "thank you." 

They went back to the usual morning chatter and clanking, Pidge perched up on the counter, their feet dangling, Hunk bumping around from the oven to the fridge to the pantry and back again. Coran reading the intergalactic tabloid equivalent of a newspaper, huffing and puffing at the ongoings of the universe, Shiro now riffling in the fridge for creme to put in his coffee, then battling with the coffee machine. 

Lance's thumb brushed over Keith's knuckles again and he smiled, looking down to hide it.


End file.
